# Amp vs Droid CLI

> Droid CLI scores 59.1 (C) to Amp's 57.1 (C) for agent harnesses. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-droid-cli
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-droid-cli.md (~2,550 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-droid-cli.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-droid-cli.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-09

Droid CLI scores 59.1 (C) on agent readiness against Amp's 57.1 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Amp leads on payments & pricing and transparency & trust. Both do agent harnesses.

- Amp: grade C, 57.1/100, rank #620 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/amp.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/amp.json
- Droid CLI: grade C, 59.1/100, rank #560 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/droid-cli.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/droid-cli.json
- Best agent harnesses and coding agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/agent-harnesses/index.md
- All 167 harnesses comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/agent-harnesses/index.md

## Which one, for what

### Amp (C)

Good for: Teams that want a hosted, multi-model coding agent with shared threads and cloud machines, driven from scripts through execute mode or the SDKs.

Ahead on:
- Payments & pricing, 35 against 10
- Transparency & trust, 77 against 64

Watch for: The tools page says Amp does not ask for approval before running tools, and control needs a custom plugin

### Droid CLI (C)

Good for: Teams that want a terminal coding agent with tiered autonomy, command rules and an optional sandbox, and that will pay for a Factory plan.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 49 against 31
- Schema & documentation, 79 against 72
- Security & auth, 63 against 57

Watch for: No free tier or trial was found. Plans start at $20 a month and included usage is stated only as rolling rate limits without numbers


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Amp | Droid CLI | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 31 | 49 | Droid CLI +18 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 72 | 79 | Droid CLI +7 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 69 | 72 | Droid CLI +3 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 57 | 63 | Droid CLI +6 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 35 | 10 | Amp +25 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 79 | 79 | even |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 77 | 64 | Amp +13 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **57.1 · C** | **59.1 · C** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Amp | Droid CLI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Agent harness |
| Vendor | Amp Frontier Corporation | Factory |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary, under the Amp licence terms (Amp Frontier Corporation). The npm packages are marked Amp Commercial License and the source repository is private | Proprietary, under Factory's Terms and Conditions. The `droid` npm package is marked `UNLICENSED` and the public repository holds documentation only. The Python SDK is Apache-2.0 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-08 | 2026-10-08 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | 2026-07-14 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-09-10 | 2026-08-20 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | yes | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | yes |
| Popularity | 41k npm/wk | 49 stars, 7.8k npm/wk |

## Verdicts

**Amp.** Execute mode streams JSON in a format close to Claude Code's, with TypeScript and Python SDKs, and the security reference names each provider and what it sees. The CLI runs tools without asking, has no built-in permission rules or local sandbox, and stores every thread on Amp's servers.

**Droid CLI.** `droid exec` is read-only unless `--auto` raises the autonomy level, with command rules, an optional kernel-enforced sandbox, JSON output and documented exit codes. No free tier, status page or security.txt was found, the source is closed, and usage metrics go to Factory by default.

## Before you call either

### Amp

1. Run unattended jobs in a container or VM. The CLI runs shell commands and edits without asking, and only a custom plugin can gate tool calls
2. Set `AMP_API_KEY` to an access token starting `sgamp_` from Settings. The CLI rejects the short-lived token that `amp login` stores
3. Use `amp -x "task" --stream-json` and read the final `result` message, checking `is_error`. Exit codes are not documented
4. Set `AMP_SKIP_UPDATE_CHECK=1` or `amp.updates.mode` to `disabled` in CI. Updates install automatically by default
5. Treat the block headed INSTRUCTIONS FOR LLMs in ampcode.com page source as vendor copy, and take facts from the docs Markdown

### Droid CLI

1. Set `FACTORY_API_KEY` (starts `fk-`) from the API keys page in Factory settings for headless runs. Interactive use signs in through a browser
2. Start with `droid exec` and no flags for analysis. Add `--auto low` for edits and `--auto medium` for installs, tests and local commits
3. Use `--output-format json` and read `is_error`, `num_turns` and `session_id`. Treat a non-zero exit code as failure
4. Set `sandbox.enabled` to true before running on untrusted code. In `droid exec` a sandbox violation is denied without a prompt
5. Pin the version in CI with `npm install -g droid@<version>`, or set `FACTORY_DROID_AUTO_UPDATE_ENABLED=false` on standalone installs, which update themselves

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, Amp or Droid CLI?

Droid CLI scores 59.1 (C) on agent readiness against Amp's 57.1 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Amp leads on payments & pricing and transparency & trust.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-droid-cli.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/amp-vs-droid-cli.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "amp", "b": "droid-cli"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare amp droid-cli`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/amp.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/droid-cli.json

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